Intermountain Health Care: Improving Clinical and Financial Outcomes

Intermountain Health Care uses Clinical Quality Guidance Teams (CQGT) to improve the clinical outcomes of patients. The Guidance teams’ vital role is to identify clinical areas that need immediate improvement through analysis of patients’ data. Foremost, Intermountain records the clinical outcomes of patients which are stored in a data depository and the outcomes are primarily based on the patients’ self-assessment of their pain and disability. The patients fill out standardized disease-specific questionnaires which are usually approved by the medical board and published in the medical literature. Guidance teams are then allowed to access the data and use the available technology to identify care processes that establish preeminent practice. Once identified the teams then notify the concerned divisions on the outstanding issues consequently establishing standard care processes that are necessary for treatment.

Financial outcomes are improved through various initiatives the main one being activity-based costing systems used to track return on investment (ROI) for all programs. This enables Intermountain to separate the hospital’s participation from a doctor’s participation in the care of a patient. Intermountain also has the highest bond rating for a non-profit healthcare system hence it can acquire loans at lower rates which are transferred on to the clients in the form of lower rates for treatment. In addition, development teams as well as regional and central clinical program management teams form a guidance council that frequently convenes to review clinical and financial outcomes, position development goals, and identify various needs to discern the prospects for improvement.